New York Handgun Permits Can’t Be Renewed

According to the Buffalo News, the state’s gun control law requires all residents who had pistol permits before 2013 to renew them or lose them. But there’s a problem.

Niagara County Clerk Joseph Jastrzemski said the state hasn’t done what it needs to do to make that possible. Renewals are supposed to be done by January 31, 2018 via a state website. The problem is the website hasn’t been set up yet. When people call his office asking for help figureing it out, he doesn’t know what to tell them.

Pistol permits are supposed to be renewed every 5 years. The renewal only applies to handguns, not long guns. We’re hopeful that the website will be up and running by then but who knows? Also, maybe they don’t even know? In the original article we found, the renew by date was given as January 2017 as well as January 2018. Hopefully someone figures that out!

Actually, we looked around and the permits must be renewed by January 31, 2018. Either way, it’s going to be a busy year for these officials. There are an estimated 2 million pistol permits issued in New York. Each of those permit holders has to renew through a website that doesn’t even exist yet during whatever time the website gets created and the end of the deadline. Those who don’t renew will have their permits revoked. If they continue to possess a handgun without their New York handgun permit they can be charged with a misdemeanor.